Effect of Resin Type on the Tribological Properties of a Three-Dimensional Self-Lubricating Composite Surface

In this paper, three kinds of polymer, of epoxy resin (EP), phenolic resin (PF), and unsaturated polyester (UP), were used as fillers to prepare the laminated composite surface, and the tribological properties of a composite surface were studied under dry sliding condition. The results showed that: (i) the composites surface without MoS₂ exhibited high friction coefficient and high wear rate at 25 °C, while the friction coefficients were reduced when the temperature increases to 100 °C; (ii) with the addition of MoS₂, the friction coefficient of the epoxy resin composite containing MoS₂ (E1) was below 0.22 under a temperature of 25⁻150 °C, and the friction coefficient was increased to 0.32 as temperature increased to 150 °C, while the average friction coefficient of the unsaturated polyester composite containing MoS₂ (U1) was very low and below 0.20 under a temperature of 25⁻150 °C. Analysis of the wear scars indicated that, for the MoS₂-containing composite, the transfer films of the E1 and U1 were smooth and continuous under low temperature, while the transfer film of U1 was comparatively complete than that of E1 under 150 °C. The composites with solid lubrication had excellent high-temperature self-lubricating properties, which was attributed to the synergistic effect of the laminated structure, and the thermal expansion of the polymer, and finally a transfer film was formed on the sliding path.